NOTE: All characters and venues are totally fictional; any semblance to real persons or places is merely coincidental.
Munni's LIA - Episode 10
Reddy Gets The Message
(Episode 9, An Irrelevant Interlude, is useful reading before this episode; this episode picks up the story from the end of Episode-8, when Sheila went to the door of the hotel suite to see who it was. Reddy was already under the sheets in that Sofa bed. Sheila had just completed telling him the story of uncle Benny's wedding and how the Patels and Shahs were evicted from Uganda....with a whole lot of dad-appreciation in that story. Reddy formed a new opinion of uncle Benny. )
Reddy remained in bed, but had a direct view of the door. He saw Sheila look though the spy-hole, then open the door. There was a feminine shriek from the outside. He heard Sheila:"hey…come in …and for god's sake, don't wake up the town".
A woman about the same height as Sheila, in blue jeans and light windbreak jacket came in. She noticed the pairs of shoes and slipped out of hers as well. She seemed younger than Sheila. They both came directly to where Reddy was.
Sheila said "..this is" and the other woman completed,"..you must be the indian cousin…right ?".
Reddy didn't know what he was supposed to do, get up, pull his hand out from under the sheet and stretch it out to her, or what ?
Sheila saved him by saying," my friend Nikki…she works in Freemont Hospital….this is cousin Reddy..he goes to TVU.."
Nikki held her right hand up as if to "high-five" and made her fingers strum in the air while saying,"hello, nice to meet you, I'm Nicola Niebaum".
Reddy thought her name sounded like Tamil for an invitation to stand together; he merely said,"hello" and forgot her name right away.
Nikki turned to Sheila and exclaimed,"that IS so cute ! "
"It was Reddy's idea…he found it in the drugstore," Sheila held both her hands out like a scare-crow and made a pirouette. Nikki giggled, and when Sheila came around and stopped, she hugged and kissed Sheila on the cheek.
"and the belt ?", Nikki asked. "Mine", said Sheila. "That is so clever", said Nikki and holding Sheila's left hand, she wrapped her right around Sheila's waist and dragged Sheila towards her like a male dance partner. Cousin Sheila's Tweetie Bird skirt was riding up dangerously. Reddy imitated a turtle and pulled his head into the blanket.
He heard Sheila say,"thanks for calling...…I was worried…" and then,
"ok it is getting late for everyone…why don't you go in there hang your coat, and use the bathroom…I will say goodnight to my cousin"
Nikki said,"ok" and walked into the bedroom.
Reddy's head came out once again as Sheila said,"…I was going to meet Nikki tomorrow…..hey wait…..it is already tomorrow….. in any case, she decided to come out here straight from her party so we would already be there when tomorrow hits…..so you have everything ?….you know..the water in the fridge…the little bathroom is out here …and remember to get up, wash your socks and undies before you sleep….ok ?"
Reddy said," ok…I'll be ok"
Sheila said," I left the range light on in the kitchen so that you have some kinda night light…that way you don't trip up in the dark looking for light switch or something"
Reddy was amazed at how much she thinks of everything. He nodded and said ,"ok..good night".
Sheila said,"Nightie night….and have a sweet dream…and you need to get up only after 9 or 10 or even later; just relax, I will wake you up. On sundays they serve breakfast until noon", and walked into the bed room. She closed the door behind her.
Reddy wondered if a sweet dream was an option or a directive from Sheila, like washing the undies. Then he got out, and decided to wash his undies and socks. He washed them dishwashing soap, rinsed well in hot water, wrung them well and hung them out in the small bathroom on hangers. He heard them talking with a few shrieks and giggles from inside the other bathroom. Then he heard the shower sound and the conversation ended. The what's-her-name is in the shower, probably, he thought. He switched off the lights and got into bed.
After getting up and washing and thinking about the day, he seemed to have lost the sleepiness. He heard the noises from the next room; but unlike his flat with the other five room mates, some of them heavy snorers sleeping a few feet away from him on the same floor, the girls made vey little noise. When the shower stopped, he heard Nikki saying something and Sheila responding"sssshhhh…murmurmur murmurmurmurmur.." and then it got very quiet…and a few muffled squeaks and giggles came out. He tried to concentrate on the noises, to figure out what they may be saying to each other. After some struggle, he gave up and decided to think about his bus stand sweetheart, Shanti Naidu. After all, that is exactly what Sheila had told him to do; and after that story of uncle Benny, he had resolved to do what Benny or Sheila asked him to do. He stuck the second pillow between his knees, rolled to his side and try to think of the times when he met Shanti every morning; the times that had ended just so recently.
It had taken almost a month before Reddy was able to say something to Shanti at the bus stand. And even more time for Shanti to explain why she always stood at least a yard away when she spoke to him at the bus stand: she had said,"standing any closer to talk while looking at you, can give me a neck sprain for a whole day!" After that he took her to his old engineering college, where they can sit under a tree, or in an empty class room; sitting down, Reddy's long legs tucked under a chair, she can look at him eye-to-eye.. At that college, none of the current students knew his face, and they both could be anonymous in a crowd. She had to cut classes for that. Reddy had also found out why she always wore long sleeve, high neck everything and even in an occasional short sleeve churidahr with wide neck designs she had on a turtle neck full sleeve knit wear underneath. She confessed that she had patches of skin without melanin; and she was not eager for anyone to see it. However, she was happy that Reddy had noticed that much about her looks and what she wore everyday.
Reddy told her about his sister's marriage and how during the time when "they" came to "see her", the potential brother-in-law seemed too good; "they" did not demand much from Reddy's family. Reddy's father immediately grew suspicious and made thorough investigations in Guntur, Anantapur and Arkonam where "they" owned brick works and agricultural property. Eventually the marriage happened. Two weeks after the wedding, the new bride came back to her mother's home, cried a lot and revealed that her husband had patches of white skin and "they" had cheated her. Father and older brother were mad, they wanted to beat up the son-in-law; they wanted to get the whole in-law family arrested on fake dowry-demand charges and put in jail. However, brother in law came and apologized and promised to treat sister very well and even if she wants a divorce and remarry, promised to bear all the expenses of the divorce and help her in the arranging and finance of the remarriage.
After a few months of staying in her mother's house, his sister went back to her husband's for a month; then she did not call her home that often. One day the in-laws called to announce that she was pregnant and happy. She came back very pregnant and constantly talked about her husband and how great and kind he was; when she was not talking about him, she was talking to him on her mobile. Eventually mother and brother's wife were quite happy and very relieved, when she had the baby and went back to her husband's home. So everything worked out in the end. Reddy was happy that his father and brother did not try to beat up his brother-in-law, because his BIL did a lot of physical labor with his employees in the brick-work and farms; and could have beat them both to a pulp. Reddy liked his brother in law very much; and besides he was happy that his sister was married to a wealthy, gentle person as well. After Shanti heard this story and also learnt that there is nothing the matter with Reddy's legs, and the reason why he managed to get stuck in the step of the bus everyday, she still occasionally sighed and went,"Aiyo Paavam"(the poor dear), when she thought about him. She couldn't explain to herself the rhyme or reason for this expression and the sigh that came with it.
He had talked to her of his attempts to go to America for his MS; she was happy to hear that and frequently asked him about the progress. However, when he told her that his I-20 came and he had applied for the visa, she took the news very quietly. On the day his visa was issued, he could not see her in the morning. The next day when he told her the news at the bus stand, she side stepped close to him, held his elbow in a very tight grip, turned up towards him and actually looked into his eyes and said,"congratulations". Her eyes were red and her tears were held up, only because he was so stupidly tall and she had to look up at him. She immediately withdrew back to her usual place and put her head down. Reddy saw her tear drops make tiny wet spots on the concrete. The next day he didn't see her at the bus stand.
The following day he went early to the bus stand and waited; she came with her book bag at the usual time. Even stood in the same spot. He did his usual getting stuck in the first step of the bus, and everything looked like his Visa-to-USA never happened. After a couple of stops, she was standing in the aisle, him next to her in the middle of the bus. A seated man stood up to squeeze himself towards the exit. Reddy whispered to Shanti,"sit" and she did. This order-and-obey must have sent some signal to the fellow on the window seat next to Shanti. Looking at the size of the tall escort of the girl who sat next to him, he decided to scrunch himself towards the window and give her more room, with a friendly query:"sister-aah?"(sister, ha'nh?). Reddy heard Shanti snap at the man,"no Paatti"(no, gran'ma). Reddy leaned down in the only space he could, right in front of the seated two and said,"…mmmh..sssssh". Later, he didn't know why he did something that familiar.
If angry sister made the window seater uncomfortable, the tall man with the big nose leaning into the seat area gave him even more of a fright. Saying,"sir..you can sit here sir"..he started to get up. Even as Reddy said,"..no..no", Shanti shoved both her feet out at Reddy's and said to the window seat man,"please go". When the man made himself as small as feasible and slid by, she moved to the window and said,"come". Reddy sat down next to her, and found that he had to put his knees way up on the back rest of the front seat. She pulled his elbow in so that he can move in farther. She also butted herself against him with a vengeance as if it is her right as the annoyed "sister". Then she turned her face to the window. The ex-window person, now occupying the standing room where Reddy had been, seemed none the worse as he smiled benignly at Reddy's head. The crowd within the bus thinned as it made its progress. As the bus neared his office, Reddy gave Shanti a head-roll as if that conveyed: "see you tomorrow, usual time, usual place, ha'nh?". Shanti was still looking outside. He knew that she knew where he got off; so he got up and without looking to her side, slid out. When he got out of the bus, he stood on the sidewalk and stretched. Sitting in a bus was confining; Shanti's behavior had made him nervous; and he needed that stretch.
He heard,"I want to talk to you" from behind. Shanti too had got off the bus, right behind him.
He turned around,"don't you have college ?"
"late class today; I can talk to you and then go by walk; only two stops any way" she said.
"ok..". he said and walked, she walked beside him. They went into his building and towards the cafeteria in the ground floor that served all the companies in that building.
He took her to a corner table. She sat next to him on the same side of the table; then twisted herself and looked at him.
Then with her eyes wide open, she said, "I am sad that you will soon be leaving, but look into my eyes, they are clear and I am not crying. I want to tell you something very important very clearly. Listen without interrupting me."
He had never expected this; his heart beat faster and he perspired.
She continued,"I don't know when I will see you again".
He tried to interrupt.
She continued,"ssshhh..stop. ....or..... if I will ever see you again....I want you to get your M.S. and be successful...wherever you end up......but you can do me one favor before you go ……you can give me a gift"
Once again, Reddy tried to interrupt.,".I..."
She put her hand on his lap and still keeping her wide open clear eyes on his face, shook her head "no", to make him stop.
Then she continued,"I am going to tell you what gift I want....you can give it or not...it is your choice".
Reddy remained quiet, albeit very nervous. Then he thought, this might actually be better than him buying her some stupid keepsake from a mall; one that she might throw away.
She was still looking at him like she was overdosed on some strange courage drug.
Then she pulled a sheet of paper from her book bag and gave it to him.
It was a printout of some internet site.
She continued on...."I want to spend one complete day with you before you go...and then even if I never see you again, I'd be happy. I do not want to say praemisthunnaanu (i-love-you), as if you already do not know that, and force you to repeat the same to me because you don't know what else to say. And besides, saying it is not the point."
She paused....and sighed. And took a deep breath, pressed her hand further into his lap, so he couldn't interrupt. She swallowed.
Her eyes were still hard and clear and staring straight at him. He imitated a deer caught in the headlights of a car.
She went on,"I will never hold you to any spoken or unspoken promise for now or the future. This is the place I want to stay with you for a whole day", she touched the paper she gave him,"You can make the reservation and I can give you the money later"
She stopped as Reddy looked at the sheet of paper; it was information on a hotel in a far west suburb. He had grasped what was asked of him. He had the money in his bank account, yet to be converted into dollars for taking with him to America. He took his eyes off the paper, looked at her and said,"I will" and pressed his hand over hers that was already on his lap.
She gasped. He had never touched her in the bus, not even when she gave him all the excuses. Not a single small accidental touch in all their sitting in private empty college rooms and under trees. Knowing how he had behaved with her over the last several months, she did not expect such a quick answer.
While she kept her courage up, and gave him the speech, her heart was sinking down towards the end, her eyes were gathering a flood. She looked down with a sigh and whispered,"thank you….thank you very much", while fumbling for hand kerchief in her pocket. Reddy too had been choked by his own emotions; he didn't know what to say.
Shanti was still looking down at their joined hands on his lap as she said,"say 'you are welcome'".
He said,"you are welcome".
In response they both heard another voice: "sister--aah?" and they both looked up to see who it was.
Reddy tried to get up. Obviously somebody higher up in his company. Shanti's tear streaks shone as reflective lines under the fluorescent lamps of that cafeteria; the man noticed that and with obvious discomfort, said," don't get up……don't get up".
Reddy plopped back down as he said," grand mother passed away, sir". Shanti was happy that he didn't let go of her hand when he "fib"bed. She put her face down in the kerchief in her hand. The boss noticed her shoulders shaking while squeaky noises came out of her, and grew more uncomfortable by the second, and shifted uneasily on his feet,"I am so sorry….Reddy … take the day off…whenever the funeral is…." and, "…I am so sorry" again in Shanti's direction. Then he scurried off as if to escape from his own shadow.
Shanti lifted her face; she had been laughing with her kerchief as a gag in her mouth; her tears stains still there, but her eyes twinkling in happiness; she asked," who did you kill?". He replied,"she had left long ago; besides, she had always helped in any good cause".
As he walked her back out of the building, he asked her "when" and she answered "any working day next week".
He nodded,"I will tell you in bus stand tomorrow".
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